Country's Dierks Bentley brings Gravel & Gold Tour to Star Lake

Jun. 20—When the pandemic hit, many of country singer Dierks Bentley's contemporaries hunkered down to work on new music.

He did the opposite.

"A lot of my friends were back in Nashville working on music, but I was not. I was not interested," he said. "I was interested in doing all the things I felt I'd been missing out on."

Bentley and his family weathered the worst of the shutdown at their second home in Telluride, Colo.

"I was focused more on making up for lost outdoor adventure time, so it was a lot of biking and skiing and fishing and hiking and camping — a lot of family time," he said.

Realizing he would have to return to Nashville eventually, he started thinking about his long musical history in the city. That's when his creative muse came calling again.

Looking at things from a distance created a new outlook that resulted in his 10th studio album, "Gravel & Gold," released Feb. 24.

Touring behind the album, Bentley has a show at 7 p.m. Saturday at The Pavilion at Star Lake in Burgettstown, Washington County.

"When I realized we were gonna have to come back to Nashville, that's when I started thinking about music and the idea that I've been living in Nashville for 30 years," Bentley said. "I was kind of wanting to get away from there, but I realized that sometimes it comes down to perspective and how you see things.

"A lot of times, gold can be gravel, and gravel can be gold. It depends on how you're looking at things," He said. "If there's an external problem, there's usually something internal that needs to be adjusted, so I was readjusting my internal perspective on Nashville."

When he returned to Nashville, he was seeing it with fresh eyes.

"I was seeing that there's still a lot of gold left in the city and Music Row and all the friends and all the venues I've played, and I just had a new appreciation for Nashville," he said. "A lot of the positivity of the record comes from that."

"Gravel & Gold" is the first album that Bentley self-produced. Its 14 tracks run a gamut of styles from honky-tonk and bluegrass to pop-country and traditional country.

Greatest sounds

"It was my 10th record, so I really wanted it to be a collection of my greatest sounds — not necessarily my greatest hits, but all the sounds I've made part of my previous albums," he said. "If I was trying to explain my music to someone, I might give them this record first and say it's a collection of all the different kinds of country music that I loved over the years."

The lyrics of "Something Real," the second single from the album, reflect Bentley's pandemic soul-searching, including, "I need the kinda moments that make my whole wide world stand still/Yeah, I wanna hear about a deep cut, a heartbreak ... I want somethin' real."

The tour comes with a whole new stage production, including a video wall.

"The whole change of perspective even extends into our live shows. The video wall kind of messes with your perception in a way you might not notice when you first look at it," Bentley said. "It's a nice continuation of what we're doing musically, to change the way you see things."

The concept, Bentley said, was born out of asking the question, "What would we do if this was the last time we were gonna play Pittsburgh? What kind of show would we put on?

"We'd put on the best one money could buy," he said. "We spent a lot of time getting it right and put a lot of money into the set."

"Gravel & Gold" tour stops include a majority of outdoor amphitheaters.

"Some of my favorite memories are going to outdoor concerts. I love being outside in the summer," Bentley said. "Anyone who knows me knows that I'm never inside. Outdoors, the show starts and there's a little bit of light left and people are on the grass on their blankets all spread out, taking it all in.

"There's nothing like those outdoor shows in the summertime."

Besides the aesthetic, there's a practical reason that Bentley does summer tours. During the school year, he's a hockey dad, traveling with his son to to junior hockey tournaments across the country.

At Star Lake, fans will get a taste of the new album, along with their old favorites.

"I want my show to feel like a roller coaster ride for the audience. You build it up to a big spot, it drops back down to a moment, it builds back up again," Bentley said. "It takes them on a ride, it takes me on a ride."

Tickets to the concert are $36-$119 at livenation.com.

Shirley McMarlin is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Shirley by email at smcmarlin@triblive.com or via Twitter .